Lehigh Valley Hospital, St. Luke's ranked as top hospitals

It's become routine: Lehigh Valley Hospital-Cedar Crest joins the "nationally ranked" best hospitals in U.S. News and World Report's annual list. It's happened every year since 1996, the hospital says.

But inside the statistics lie stories like Hunter Hollenbach's. From a young age, Hollenbach had severe sleep problems. The Reading boy, soon to turn 11, would fall asleep anywhere — in school, in a car or at a restaurant. He says he once fell asleep standing on line for a movie. He slept up to 16 hours a day, said his mother, Candace.

For three years, doctors could not figure out what caused his problems. When he was 8, Hunter's primary care doctor referred him to Dr. Dharmesh Suratwala at LVH-Cedar Crest, which was the only site in the region doing pediatric sleep studies, Candace Hollenbach said. He found that Hunter had obstructive sleep apnea, which prevented him from ever getting restful sleep, and prescribed a continuous positive airway pressure device.

Since that time about 18 months ago, "pretty much everything has changed," Candace said.

Now, he does what a healthy boy of 10 does — hang out with friends, ride bikes, go skating — and sleep.

"I got more energy to play than I used to," Hunter said.

It's for stories like this one that LVH made the magazine's annual best hospitals list, ranking LVH-Cedar Crest among the nation's leading hospitals in gastroenterology, orthopedics and pulmonology.

High-performing hospitals in regional markets also get recognition in the U.S. News list. St. Luke's University Hospital was cited in cardiology and heart surgery, diabetes and endocrinology, gastroenterology, geriatrics, nephrology, neurology and neurosurgery, orthopedics, pulmonology and urology.

U.S. News also cited LVH-Cedar Crest as high-performing in cancer care; cardiology and heart surgery; diabetes and endocrinology; ear, nose and throat; geriatrics; gynecology; nephrology; neurology and neurosurgery; and urology. LVH-Muhlenberg was listed as a high-performer in diabetes and endocrinology; gastroenterology; geriatrics; orthopedics; pulmonology and urology.

The best hospitals list showcases 732 of the nation's roughly 4,800 hospitals. LVH is among 148 that are nationally ranked in at least one of 16 medical specialties. The rest of the recognized hospitals met a standard of performance nearly as demanding in one or more specialties, U.S. News said.

"Recognitions like this speak volumes about the hard work and dedication of everyone on the team," LVH President and CEO Ronald Swinfard said. "I am extremely proud of everyone in our entire network for their passion and commitment to doing what they do every day to help care for our community. They are truly deserving of this recognition, which in turn means our community receives the outstanding care it expects and deserves."

Added St. Luke's Chief Quality Officer Donna Sabol: "St. Luke's University Health Network is proud to be ranked 18th out of 253 hospitals in Pennsylvania, putting us in the top 10 percent in the state. Our performance also places us second in the region. It is because of our dedicated physicians and employees that such an achievement is possible."

The hospital rankings, said U.S. News health rankings editor Avery Comarow, help steer patients to hospitals with strong skills in the procedures and medical conditions that present the biggest challenges.

"All of these hospitals are the kinds of medical centers that should be on your list when you need the best care," Comarow said in a statement. "They are where other hospitals send the toughest cases."

The rankings were published by U.S. News in collaboration with RTI International, a North Carolina research organization. Highlights of the 2012-13 rankings will appear in the U.S. News Best Hospitals 2013 guidebook, to go on sale in August.

The complete rankings and methodology are available at http://health.usnews.com/best-hospitals.